Calvary Road Baptist Church
“A Survey Of Satanic & Demonic Warfare In Job”
Job
Our survey of Satanic and Demonic warfare brings us to the book of Job.
The book of Job is the first Old Testament book since we addressed “A Survey Of Satanic & Demonic Warfare In Genesis,” in which the issue of spiritual warfare is impossible to overlook. This is owing, in the main, to the first two chapters and the prominence of Satan in the opening of the book. Before we turn to the text, introductory remarks are in order:
Job and the Problem of Suffering. One of the best-known examples of undeserved suffering is recorded in the Book of Job. In a matter of minutes Job, a prominently wealthy and godly man, lost all his material possessions, all his children, and his health. And though most commentators are persuaded Job’s wife gave him no support, suggesting he end his misery by cursing God, it may be that her motive for suggesting that Job curse God and die was to bring his suffering to an end. Adding anguish upon anguish, his friends condemned him rather than consoled him. Furthermore God seemed to Job to be ignoring Job, refusing for a long time to answer him and rise to his cause. Reality, however, proved to be far different than Job’s perception.
Job’s intense suffering was financial, emotional, physical, and spiritual. Everyone was against him including, it seemed, even God, whom he had served faithfully. Yet Job was a spiritually and morally upright man (1:1, 8; 2:3). Could any suffering be more undeserved, if such a matter of deserving has anything to do with suffering? Should not such a righteous person be blessed, not badgered, by God? The fact that Job, an outstanding citizen and upright person, had so much and then lost so much makes him a supreme example of affliction that defies human explanation.
Many individuals can identify with Job, whose distresses were agonizingly prolonged and so seemingly unfair. Many people wonder why they should undergo affliction, why they should experience tragedy, heartache, and adversity. For anyone, suffering is hard to comprehend, but especially so when it strikes the seemingly undeserving. When pain does not seem to be punishment for wrongdoing, it is puzzling. The Book of Job addresses the mystery of unmerited misery, showing that in adversity God may have other purposes besides retribution for wrongdoing.
This book also addresses the problem of attitudes in affliction. Job’s experience demonstrates that a believer, while undergoing intense agony, need not renounce God. Question Him, yes; but not deny Him. Like Job, he may long for an explanation of his experience; but being unable to comprehend the cause of his calamity, he need not curse God. Though Job came close to doing so, he did not actually denounce God as Satan had predicted. What we find with Job is that although personal sin was not the cause of his suffering, his suffering did prove to be the cause of personal sin.
The Book of Job also teaches that to ask why, as Job did (3:11-12, 16, 20), is not wrong. But to demand that God answer why, as Job also did (13:22; 19:7; 31:15), is wrong. To insist that God explain one’s adversities is inappropriate for it places man above God and challenges God’s sovereignty.
Literary Style. The Book of Job has been heralded as a masterpiece unequaled in all literature. Thomas Carlyle’s oftenquoted statement about Job bears repeating: “There is nothing written, I think, in the Bible or out of it, of equal literary merit.”
The Book of Job has a unique structure. It is a mixture of prose and poetry, and of monologue and dialogue. The prologue (chaps. 1-2) and the epilogue (42:7-17) are narrative prose; the lengthy material in between is poetry (except the opening verse in each chapter that introduces a new speech, and 32:1-6a). This prose-poetry-prose pattern is unique among the books of the Bible. Additionally, irony is used throughout the book.
The literary form of the Book of Job is probably a composite of a lawsuit (several legal terms are frequently used by Job, his friends, and God), a controversy dialogue or wisdom disputation, and a lament. Job voiced many laments against himself, God, and his enemies.
Job is an outstanding literary production also because of its rich vocabulary. Dozens of words in this book occur nowhere else in the Old Testament.
Five different words are used for lions (4:10-11), six synonyms are used for traps (18:8-10), and six for darkness (3:4-6; 10:21-22). The vocabulary of the Book of Job reveals influences from several languages besides Hebrew, including Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Sumerian, and Ugaritic.
The book abounds with similes and metaphors, many of them from nature. The book touches on many subjects including astronomy, geography, hunting, mining, travel, weather, zoology, and the terminology of law courts.
No wonder Alfred Tennyson labeled the book “the greatest poem of ancient or modern times.”
Author. No one knows who wrote the Book of Job, when it was written, when its events occurred, or where Job lived. These facts, shrouded in mystery, add to the book’s appeal and charm.
Suggestions on who may have authored the book include Job himself, Elihu (the fourth friend, who spoke toward the end of the book, chaps. 32-37), Moses, Solomon, Hezekiah, Isaiah, someone after the Babylonian Exile such as Ezra, and an anonymous author 200 years before Christ. Jewish tradition says that Moses wrote the book. Others argue for Solomon as the author because of his interest in poetic literature (e.g., Prov., Ecc., and Song) and a few similarities between Job and Proverbs (e.g., Job 28 and Prov. 8).
The details of the lengthy conversations recorded in the Book of Job give the impression that it was written by an eyewitness. Job would recall as well as other eyewitnesses what was said. In the 140 years he lived after being restored to health, he would have had ample time to compile the work. This view seems more plausible than the view that an author hundreds of years later compiled what had been handed down by oral tradition over many centuries.
In Old Testament times a person sometimes recorded events about himself in the third person. Of course, someone else may have written the last two verses (Job 42:16-17), which tell of Job’s age and death. That too was not uncommon (e.g., Deut. 1-33 was written by Moses, but Deut. 34, on Moses’ death, was added by someone else).
Some scholars suggest that the Book of Job was compiled over many years by several authors and editors, each of whom added small portions to the initial work. However, numerous features point to a single author, and many cross-references within the book point to its unity.
Date. Views on the time when Job lived range all the way from the Patriarchal Age (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-approximately 2100 to 1900 B.C.) to the sixth century B.C. Several factors point to the time of the patriarchs:
- Job lived 140 years after his calamities (42:16) so he may have lived to be about 210. This corresponds roughly to the length of the patriarchs’ lives. Terah, Abraham’s father, died at the age of 205; Abraham lived to be 175; Isaac lived 180 years; and Jacob died at the age of 147.
- Job’s wealth was reckoned in livestock (1:3; 42:12), which was also true of Abraham (Gen. 12:16; 13:2), and Jacob (Gen. 30:43; 32:5).
- The Sabeans and Chaldeans (Job 1:15, 17) were nomads in Abraham’s time, but in later years they were not nomadic.
- The Hebrew word translated “piece of silver” (42:11), is used elsewhere only twice (Gen. 33:19; Josh. 24:32), both times in reference to Jacob.
- Job’s daughters were heirs of his estate along with their brothers (Job l:15). This, however, was not possible later under the Mosaic Law if a daughter’s brothers were still living (Num. 27:8).
- Literary works similar in some ways to the Book of Job were written in Egypt and Mesopotamia around the time of the patriarchs.
- The Book of Job includes no references to the Mosaic institutions (priesthood, laws, tabernacle, special religious days and feasts).
- The name sadday is used of God 31 times in Job (compared with only 17 times elsewhere in the OT) and was a name familiar to the patriarchs.
- Several personal and place names in the book were also associated with the patriarchal period. Examples include (a) Sheba, a grandson of Abraham (Gen. 25:3), and the Sabeans from Sheba (Job 1:15; 6:19); (b) Tema, another grandson of Abraham (Gen. 25:15), and Tema, a location in Arabia (Job 6:19); (c) Eliphaz, a son of Esau (Gen. 36:4), and Eliphaz, one of Job’s companions (Job 2:11; these two Eliphazes, however, are not necessarily the same person); (d) Uz, a nephew of Abraham (Gen. 22:21), and Uz, where Job lived (Job 1:1). Though it cannot be stated with certainty, possibly Job lived in Jacob’s time or shortly thereafter.
Job was a common West Semitic name in the second millennium B.C. Job was also the name of a 19th-century-B.C. prince in the Egyptian Execration texts. Other occurrences of the name are found in the Tell el-Amarna letters (ca. 1400 B.C.) and in Ugaritic texts.[1]
The book of Job is comprised of three parts. The prologue is chapters one and two. Chapters three through the first six verses of chapter forty-two contain the dialogue. The epilogue is found in the final eleven verses.
In the first two chapters of Job, we are told about the man’s character, which is exemplary, and his catastrophic calamities. We are also introduced to the immediate cause of Job’s calamities: Satan. The last three verses of chapter two introduce Job’s comforters, three men he knew and had counted as friends.
In the main, Job is a compilation of Job’s statements about his misery, three rounds of conversation back and forth between Job and his comforters, comments from a man named Elihu, and two conversations between God and Job. But interspersed throughout the central portion of Job are references to celestial beings, though no conscious awareness of them by Job is suggested.
The book ends with God’s condemnation of Job’s friends and His restoration to Job of his prosperity and family. Incredibly, there is no suggestion anywhere in the book of Job that this man was ever aware of the involvement in his life of Satan, who figures so prominently in the first two chapters and who was the instigator of Job’s suffering.
Since Satanic and demonic involvement in and around Job’s life is unavoidable to the reader, I will focus on three types of individual incorporeal beings mentioned in the book:
First, THE MENTIONS OF SATAN
First appearing in First Chronicles 1.21, the Hebrew word satan is found eleven times in the book of Job, but only in chapters one and two.[2] The Hebrew word means adversary.[3]
What is most surprising to most new Christians who read the Bible after their conversion to Christ are two things that become immediately apparent:
First, it surprises most new Christians that Satan has access to the LORD and that he presented himself as answerable to God. This is accounted for in two ways: Some point out that God holds all of His creatures to account, whether sinful or holy, not the least of which is the most prominent of those who have rebelled against His rule. Others suggest that since the word satan in these two chapters has no definite articles (meaning “accuser” rather than “the accuser”), someone other than God’s chief opponent might be referred to here. I am with the majority in thinking this is the Devil being referred to.
Second, it surprises most new Christians that although Satan is the spiritual being that afflicts godly Job, he does so at God’s instigation. On both occasions of Satan’s meetings with the LORD, the LORD challenges Satan to afflict Job as a means of testing his faithfulness.
Job 1.6-12:
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
His animals, his servants, and his children were then killed as a result.
Job 2.3-6:
3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Satan then smote Job with boils from head to toe. His suffering was unimaginable.
The subject of our concern is Satan. Satan is a celestial being, meaning he is not physical, and no physical limitations or restrictions inhibit him. His existence will never come to an end. Further, he is neither all-powerful nor everywhere present. Finally, be sure that Satan is limited by what God permits him to do. He can go no farther than the boundaries placed on his actions by God.
Next, THE SONS OF GOD
The phrase “sons of God” is found five times in the Old Testament, in Genesis 6.2 and 4, in connection with the supernatural assault against the plan and purpose of God when incorporeal beings produced hybrid offspring by mating with human women and then three times in the book of Job.
“Sons of God” appears to be a designation given to spirit beings created by God before the creation of the time-space-matter continuum. Some of those created by God rebelled against Him, and we sometimes refer to them as fallen angels. However, they are still “sons of God” by being directly created by God rather than the products of biological reproduction.
The phrase “sons of God” is also found six times in the New Testament, referring to believers in Christ.[4] And this makes sense since those who have experienced the new birth have become “sons of God” by virtue of being directly recreated by the Holy Spirit’s regeneration.
The “sons of God” give an accounting to God in Job 1.6 and 2.1, where we are informed about Satan. This suggests that Satan is numbered among the “sons of God,” though he is distinguished from them for various reasons.
The third place where “sons of God” are referred to in Job is in 38.7. Why don’t we read Job 38.1-7 to establish context, as we read the beginning of God’s first response to Job’s complaints:
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
The LORD seems to have had enough of Job’s whining about his lot in life, so he asks him who he thinks he is to question God. Verses 4-7 ask Job where he was when God was creating this universe and everything in it. And it is in verse 7 we find evidence that God created incorporeal beings before speaking the time-space-matter continuum into existence because they witnessed God’s creation of the physical universe. In the first half of verse 7, they are described as “morning stars” that sang, with the second half describing them as “all the sons of God” that shouted for joy. That it was “all the sons of God” who shouted for joy, along with the declaration in Genesis 1.31 that at the end of the sixth day God’s entire creation was “very good,” suggests that none of the incorporeal beings God created before bringing the physical universe into existence sinned until sometime after the sixth day of creation.
Third, THE ANGELS
The word “angels” appears only in Job 4.18, with “angels” in Hebrew meaning what “angels” in Greek means, messengers. Even so, there are other words that refer to “angels,” such as the word “servants,” also in verse 18.
Job 15.15:
“Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.”
Does this refer to supernatural beings? Possibly. Still, just as with Job 4.18, these are the words of Eliphaz.
Job 33.23:
“If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness.”
It is thought that the messenger, the interpreter referred to here, is a supernatural being, a celestial creature of some kind, and not a man.[5] However, once more, these are the words of a man, this time Elihu.
What we have seen to this point is assertions from three perspectives: From the narrative portion of Job, in chapters one and two, we are introduced to Satan and the sons of God. From the account of the LORD’s first speech to Job, we see mention made once more of the sons of God. And from two of Job’s comforters, we have looked at three comments about what appear to be angelic beings. The remarks of Eliphaz and Elihu are not proof because the Bible records erroneous statements made by men. But they do establish that Job’s friends considered angelic beings.
There can be no doubt that Job was aware of supernatural beings. The LORD mentioned the sons of God to him, and two of his friends made mention of spirit beings to him. Thus, it is inconceivable that Job would not be aware of the existence of celestial beings and that they had some involvement in the lives of human beings.
That said, we have no basis to conclude that Job was aware of a personal Devil or a creature named Satan. As mentioned in Job chapters one and two, Job was unaware of the events in those two chapters that led to his profound suffering. He experienced the results but knew nothing that led to the results.
Does this not speak to whatever situation you might find yourself in? Should you become aware of supernatural opposition in your life, the Biblical prescription is quite clear:
“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”[6]
But the general approach someone should take to suffering and bellyaching to God?
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
What do we hear from the Savior and His apostles?
Matthew 24.13:
“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
Mark 13.13:
“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
2 Timothy 2.3:
“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
2 Timothy 4.5:
“But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”
Hebrews 12.7:
“If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?”
James 5.11:
“Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
It seems as though there is a place for mental toughness in spiritual conflict. Seek the mental toughness to endure the struggle and prevail by God's grace and mercy.”
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[1] With modifications, from John F. Walvoord & Roy B. Zuck, General Editors, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 1985), pages 715-717.
[2] Job 1.6, 7, 8, 9, 12; 2.1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7
[3] Francis Brown, S. R. Driver & Charles A. Briggs, The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew And English Lexicon, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1979), page 966.
[4] John 1.12; Romans 8.14, 19; Philippians 2.15; 1 John 3.1, 2
[5] Michael S. Heiser, Angels: What The Bible Really Says About God’s Heavenly Host, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018), page 108.
[6] James 4.7
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